British artist Banksy released a new online artwork on Saturday depicting a black figure surrounded by a candle that is starting to burn down the flag of the United States. The artwork was published as thousands of people gathered in Paris, London and many other cities around the world to join the anti-racial and police-rage movement born in the United States. United after the death of George Floyd. This 46-year-old American black man died on May 25 in Minneapolis after being kept on the ground for almost nine minutes by a policeman pressing a knee on his neck.
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“The system lets people of color down. The white system , ” Banksy wrote in a short statement accompanying his work posted on Instagram. The artist, whose identity remains unknown, compares racism to a problem of a pipe leaking into an apartment and whose occupants are not allowed to access the apartments on the upper floors.
It’s a white problem. And if the Whites don't fix it, someone will have to go up and break down the door
Banksy“At first, I said to myself that I should be quiet and just listen to black people on the subject. But why would I do that? It's not their problem, it's mine, ” said the artist. "It is a problem of whites. And if white people don't fix it, someone will have to come up and break down the door, " he said in his post, which has garnered more than two million likes since Saturday. His drawing was notably praised by the American actor Mark Ruffalo. "This is our problem. We are the ones who hold privilege and power. It's time to speak seriously, ” he wrote in a comment below the post.
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The artist often chooses topical themes for his works of art, which are usually stenciled on the walls. Last month, he illustrated a young boy choosing a nurse as a superhero to play with, rather than Batman and Spiderman, to demonstrate the British's gratitude to the country's health workers during the coronavirus crisis.
